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ASSOCIATED PRESS / February 2019
One of the carrier's executives told Bloomberg News that Southwest Airlines was planning to compete with Hawaiian Airlines in the inter-island market. Southwest Airlines planes are loaded at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle.
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Southwest Airlines Co. plans to challenge Hawaii's inter-island market control by Hawaiian Airlines shortly after the start of its flights to the state from the mainland, a Dallas-based airline senior executive said.
The high-demand, short-flight flights between the islands lie squarely in the Southwest wheelhouse, Southwest Chief Financial Officer Andrew Watterson said today in an interview with Bloomberg News.
"We are seeing this big market with higher prices and shorter distances for which we are known," said Watterson, who was with Hawaiian Holdings Inc. before joining Southwest in 2013. "The size of the market and the prices have allowed us to see that we can do it profitably.
The Dallas-based discounter will enter a crowded market with ghosts from other airlines that have failed Hawaiian. Island Air ceased operations after filing for bankruptcy in 2017, a fate that Aloha Air experienced in 2008. Mesa Air has ended the operation of its Go! discount unit in 2014. Southwest has not disclosed what time it will start flying to or to Hawaii after receiving regulatory approval this week alone.
The carrier will use the Boeing Co. 737-800, with 175 seats, before moving to 737 Max with the same number of passengers. Hawaiian operates Boeing 717s with 128 seats between the islands, while its Ohana suburban unit uses 48-seat turboprops.
"If you look at the history of inter-island flying, it works with a model," said Andrew Harrison, commercial director at Alaska Air Group Inc., which serves Hawaii but not between islands. "It never worked with two. Hawaiian has a reason to fly in this plane. "
Watterson is not discouraged. Southwest can operate larger planes more efficiently than the 717s, which he said were more expensive than the 737s. A limited number of peak-hour frequencies means "I'm not worried about filling them", a- he declared.
"What people miss is that intra-Hawaii is a big market," he said. "It's bigger than the intra-Texas. We built our airline on the 737 inside Texas. "The inter-island market has an average of 6,515 passengers a day in both directions as of Sept. 30," Watterson said, citing data from the US Department of Transportation that does not include connecting passengers. 6212.
In response, Hawaiian Airlines today issued a statement in which it lays out its experience in the inter-island market and its competitiveness.
"We compete successfully every day with the world's largest airlines with award-winning service, unparalleled punctuality and unmatched value," the statement said. Hawaiian praised its 202 inter-island flights a day and its 12 direct flights to mainland metropolises, "it will be 13 soon with Boston – more than any other carrier"
Southwest and its rivals had once sold their one-way tickets to Texas at less than $ 50, but they have increased fares over time, increasing profits. Today, the cheapest one-way fare between Houston and Dallas was $ 109.30, according to a search conducted by Google Flights. Three major carriers are now flying throughout the state.
The lowest one-way fares between the Hawaiian Airlines, which are currently charged for off-peak trips, ranged from $ 70 to $ 95.
In his statement, Hawaiian said, "Our basic one way basic fare to the neighboring island (excluding taxes and fees) was $ 71 for the last four quarters," ending in the second quarter of 2018.
Southwest received Wednesday approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration for service in Hawaii and announced that it would outline the details of its service "in the coming days".
The airline will initially serve the California cities of San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento and Oakland. Its destinations will be Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.
Star-Advertiser staff contributed to this report.
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